Keighley boy Charlie Hiscock plays the leading role in a major TV drama starting next week.

The 11-year-old Oakbank School student stars in Combat Kids, which will be shown on BBC1 and CBBC.

He gained the role of army brat Jed after several rounds of auditions arranged through his drama school Stage 84.

The role – which involved three weeks of filming at a Southport army base last summer – is Charlie’s first speaking role on TV.

But Charlie, of Privet Drive, Oakworth, was beaten to an acting career by the family dog Dusty. The Jack Russell played Snowy in The Adventures of Tintin last year at Bradford Alhambra.

Three-part drama Combat Kids will be shown on CBBC from Monday, at 5.45pm, with a Thursday repeat on BBC1.

It tells the story of a group of children growing up on an army base while their parents are fighting abroad.

Charlie’s character Jed meets a strange boy who claims he’s an alien trapped on Earth after his spaceship crashed.

Charlie, who lives with parents Mark and Vicki and sister Hannah, had previously appeared as an extra in a student film.